


Where have you been?

by Beowolf



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:35:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28962555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beowolf/pseuds/Beowolf
Summary: Magnus goes out one evening to visit a friend, but when he returns he finds out he's been gone for quite some time? Just what on earth happened?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Magnus is the name of my character. Had no idea what dragon quest a couple years ago, until I picked it up on the PS4. Its a great game.

Time seems like it’s a bit wishy-washy at some points. On one hand, there was the saying ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ or ‘everything slows down when you’re bored.’ Magnus never really felt like it was either of those things for him. It was like this; if he was happy, having fun and making the most of his time, then time would seem to stretch like spaghetti. Everything would feel so much longer. But if he were the opposite of those feelings, sad, down or angry, then time would quickly tumble by. As if there was no reason to make the most of anything when negative emotions plagued him. His family or well, Erik and Veronica never really got it and always grinned at him telling how weird that was, or that it should be the complete opposite. 

He… hadn’t really meant for the whole entire night to pass, in this case. 

That afternoon he had decided to go to Gemma’s house for a while. Sylvando gave him permission to do so, and only asked him to be home at around five for dinner. Magnus agreed and off he went. There wasn’t much to do at home anyways. Sylvando was busy taking care of paperwork. Erik was glued to his phone, talking to a friend, and told Magnus they’d do something after a little while. A little while turned into two hours. Serena and Veronica were busy making some book together. At first the boy really wanted to join them but, judging from their body language and the lack of eye-contact, they both seemed like they wanted it to just be the two of them. He supposed there was the slight feeling of neglect, even if he wouldn’t admit it. But it wasn’t like any of them were mean about it. They were just doing their own thing, and so should he.

He kept true to his word at first. He had gone over to Gemma’s house, in which the girl welcomed him with open arms as always and the two had a lot of fun. The afternoon had been filled with games, movies, and bouncing ideas off each other for various stories. Once it hit around four-fifty-ish Magnus decided that it was time to start making tracks for home. The two as well as her folks bid him farewell, and soon the boy was walking back. The sun was just starting to set, and the air felt a bit colder than normal. Making his way down the somewhat shoddy road, the walk should have only been ten minutes. 

But ten minutes turned to twelve as soon as he passed by the old rickety house. It was broken down, falling apart, and the wood which might have been a lovely shade of brown at some point was now reduced to nothing but an ugly grey. Magnus always felt his heart twinge a little. It was too bad, that must have been a great house at some point. People must have lived there together, and children must have filled the house with laughter before they moved out. It was a sad circumstance. He and his family didn’t know the family there well, but Magnus could recall one afternoon they had invited him and Veronica in for afternoon tea. It was quite splendid, all the sandwiches’ and mini desserts to pick from. Though neither of the children were big on tea they tried it anyway and ended up loving the blend they had made. It was sweet milk tea, or well something like that. 

In short, the family was very nice to them. The parents were kind and gentle, their children were bright and inquisitive, and their grandma’s humor was so dry it rivaled even that of Erik’s. Their short visit was absolutely lovely, and they had a few more before something strange struck. One afternoon when Magnus and his family were walking back home from school, they noted the ‘for sale’ sign in front of the house. There was a move truck outside, with almost all the stuff in it already. They never saw the nice family after that. But they did hear of their real reason for moving. Apparently, the mother had died from cancer. It was horrible yes, and though Magnus wanted to pay his condolences and do what he could to help, even if the concept of death had gone over his head, being only seven at the time. That last visit was truly the last time they saw them. The once beautiful house slowly fell into disrepair and soon was beyond salvaging. 

For old times’ sake Magnus hesitantly made his way to the house. Stepping into the over grown yard he went over to front porch, careful to avoid the weak spots he soon opened the door, which barely clung onto the weak hinges as it creaked open. What greeted him was a dingy empty living room. He could almost see the kind woman sitting on the couch, waiting for Magnus and Veronica to enter. And their children sitting on the floor watching cartoons. Letting out a long sigh and feeling a bit sad he walked around the once happy environment. Or… what was left of it anyways. The kitchen wasn’t fairing too well. Rust colored the sink and walls in a sickly shade of reddish orange. And the floor looked like someone had purposely gone in and dumped buckets of dirty water on it. Dark splash marks had been splattered everywhere. 

Feeling a little disturbed Magnus exited the kitchen and decided the trip down memory lane was over. About to leave, a vague sound had caught his ear. It sounded like… someone was crying. A child’s crying. Listening for a moment the noise had grown stronger. Soon the crying had turned to sobbing, and he found himself heading up the stairs cautiously. When reaching the top, his feet carried him to the end of the hallway, presumably where the source of the crying was coming from. 

He didn’t understand. Who could possibly be in this house? It was rotted and worn out to the bone, it wasn’t the slightest bit fit to accommodate a person. Or any person for that matter. Quietly approaching the last room, he peeked his head in. And saw a child sitting in the corner of it. Raising a brow he stepped into the room, wondering how to react to this exactly. 

“Hey… are you okay?” he asked. It might have been a dumb question, but how else was he supposed to start off? It looked to be a little girl, with the pink sweater and checkered skirt with orange leggings. Her hair was done in a messy little braid, somewhat reminiscent of Veronica’s braids.

He took another step, “I don’t know what’s wrong, but- maybe you’d feel a little better if you talked about it.” 

He received no answer from the child and she continued to cry. Her shoulders jolted up every time a harsh sob escaped her lips. “Listen you-“ But his sentence was cut short by a loud crack followed by the floor suddenly feeling uneven beneath his feet. 

Before he knew it or could quickly step out of the way from danger the floor gave way and he fell right through it with the many articles of worn out wood and soot. He landed with the sharp pieces right back into the kitchen with a loud ‘CRASH!’   
Magnus was silent for a moment, before he could really feel the dulled pain in his back and legs. Tears built up in the corner of his eyes and spilled out pooling into his messy hair as he looked up. He saw the child peek its head over the craggy hole, but her face was too blurry to him to see her. She just looked like a little messy mass to him. 

That was the last thing he saw before blackness set in.


	2. I don't understand.

Waking to the musty smell of the house Magnus’s blue eyes finally opened. He was greeted with the sight of the broken hole above him, and vague silvery lights coming in through windows. The small splash of the color orange had caught his eye from outside, but he wrote it off. He lied there for a long moment, just taking in the sights before him. But when he tried to move the pain of his headache and aching body really hit. Like shooting little stars, and literal stars circling his head he tried to move, but that only added salt to the wound. Safe to say—he was in pretty bad shape. The liquids in his head sloshed about like a bowl of murky soup and felt wetness on the back of his head and around his legs. 

For second, he thought the worst had happened, but once taking a closer look he found the dried liquid was really dark. Oh—it was just blood. From the many little cuts and bruises he had gotten from the fall. As well as the particularly large gashes he had gotten on his sides from the sharp wood… Still, that was instantly better than, well you know. But even then, this was bad. Once he finally had his senses, or well some of his senses together then it really hit him. 

It was nighttime. Very late. And he had been passed out here for god knows how long. 

The sinking feeling of dread and knowing that he was beyond busted once he got home filled him. But better that than hiding out here and running away from his problems. So with that resolution in mind, he put himself together into mostly one piece, and made his way to the front door. Exiting into the freezing night wind, quickly the boy made his way back home. 

He didn’t register the slightly blue tinted sidewalks and white patches that covered the grass as his aching feet carried him home. He would have ran. But his head pounded so heavily, that the houses before him seemed like messy shapes that wouldn’t stop moving. Wincing he held his head, and kept his spare arm wrapped around himself. The over-sized sweatshirt (courtesy of his brother) wasn’t doing a whole lot to keep the heat insulated within him. The wind sailed by as he trudged home at a snail’s pace. 

He may have been out of it. But he still dreaded to even imagine what he was going to face when he got back home. Sylvando would never let him hear the end of it, nor would he escape the hugs. Erik and Serena’s glare would forever be etched into his mind. And Veronica’s teasing wouldn’t be of any help. He could already hear her taunting him. 

‘Ohhhhhhhh you got busted!’ 

And any excuse he came up with may well have been trying to fend off a bear with a toothpick. ‘Sorry, I was gone for the whole night, I’m just gonna head to bed now.’ Or ‘Gemma and I were having so much fun we just—lost track of time!’ Yeah right. Like they’d buy any of that. No, he would have to be honest, and tell them the whole story. Forging ahead to home it wasn’t too long before he saw his house up ahead. 

Feeling a pit of dread opening up in his stomach it took all of Magnus’s courage to not run away and hide. When approaching it something felt off. He could see the faint glow of a tree through the window from where he stood. Its lights had all the colors of the rainbow and he could vaguely make out the angel at the top of it. Hold on… why on earth was their tree up? Really confused, Magnus wondered for a moment if he was even at the right house. But it had to be the right one, who else would have that ‘teen titans’ mailbox up at the front? Hesitantly he entered through the backway instead, like he always did. 

Just as he was about to approach the doorway it suddenly opened startling the younger boy. The first person he was greeted with was none other than Veronica, but she looked a little different. She looked almost taller, perhaps the same height as Magnus and her hair was longer, darker. She seemed stronger too. 

An odd silence fell between the two of them for a moment and the other boy could almost hear the diabolic laughter now. Though he loved Veronica, she could kind of have a mean streak at times. 

“Uhhhh… I guess I’m busted huh?” the other said, forcing out a weak laugh. Honestly he just wanted to get this over with and get to bed, he was really tired. His younger sister did nothing but gape at him in shock. Oh geez he really was in for it wasn’t he? 

“Um, are Sylvando and the others inside? They’re probably waiting to kill me aren’t they?” 

Veronica took a step forward, still a shocked look on her face, and looking like she was still observing him. 

“Magnus- is that- really you?” she asked, a twinge of desperation to her voice. 

“Well, yeah of course. Jeez you miss me that much?” The boy replied, wanting to laugh but couldn’t. Something about this whole situation just didn’t feel right. 

Before he could think anything else Veronica practically launched into his arms knocking them both down. 

“Whoa! Hey, watch it you could have knocked us both out.” He muttered sitting up, but then felt the air being squeezed out of him by her hugging. Her face was buried in his chest and he could feel some of the tears leaking out on his shirt. 

“Magnus, Magnus its really you!! It’s really you!” she cried, hugging him even tighter. “You were missing for so long and-!!” Her sentences devolved into sobs. 

“Whoa missing what are you- Veronica I was only gone until nightfall.” The elder boy responded. He appreciated the gesture but- this was just too strange. Veronica being affectionate? He never thought he’d live to see the day. 

Just then another person made their way to the door. “Veronica what are you doing out here I thought I told you too-“ It was Serena, but all her beautiful hair was gone. She looked slightly thinner, a little pale and her eyes looked tired. Until they landed on him. 

“Magnus…?” she questioned, wide-eyed. Like she couldn’t believe it was him. 

“Uhhh- yeah?” the younger answered. “I’m really sorry I was- well I, lost track of time and kind of got into an accident but I promise I’m okay. Are Sylvando and Erik inside-“ Before he could finish his sentence she too had dashed over to him and practically crushed him in an embrace. 

“Magnus!!” she sobbed out. He could already hear the desperation and sadness in her voice. When she pulled back she gently cupped his face he could see a lot of differences that hadn’t been there before. Her face had sort of grown thinner in some way. Her cheeks weren’t as chubby as they used to be. And they lost their pinkish tint to them. Instead she was pale, tired and almost drained looking. 

“It’s really you.” She said, barely keeping her voice from breaking. Her green eyes brimmed with tears and soon spilled over. 

“Did I do something wrong?” Magnus questioned, a little guilty. He didn’t know he had caused this much of a panic. 

“No, no of course not. Here- come on let’s get you inside.” 

“No hold on what’s going on? I was only gone until nightfall, you’re both acting like I was gone for a decade or something.” Magnus said. In response he earned a tense look from his sisters as they glanced at one another. 

“We’ll- We’ll explain inside, okay?” Serena replied. 

“No! I want to know what’s-“before the younger one could finish his sentence, a sharp wave of nausea and pain overcame his head. Any words that he tried to say came out as nothing more than incoherent babbling as he clutched his head. He felt Serena’s strong grip as she quickly swept him off his feet and brought him into the house. The last things he saw were the blurry images of Serena and Erik hovering over him.


End file.
